Firing shots at the government for the fate of hundreds of Sandals Resort employees who were made redundant on Monday, Long Island Member of Parliament Loretta Butler-Turner said the latest development at the resort makes it even clearer that “the government has little respect or regard for Bahamian workers”.

She alluded to the beleaguered state of Baha Mar, charging that the Christie administration’s belligerence and incompetence in this matter is another example of poor treatment of workers.

“Because of the incompetence and laissez-faire approach to governance of the PLP, thousands of jobs have been lost on this government’s watch. Instead of 10,000 new jobs in its first year, a record number of jobs have been lost and our economy is in shambles. Our downward spiral continues,” said Mrs. Butler-Turner.

The Long Island MP said the government has yet to answer some pertinent questions; adding that it is too quiet on the matter.

“With the Sandals employees and the nation needing to hear from the head of government on such a large scale redundancy, which may have a significant impact on the economy, Prime Minister Perry Christie remained silent. Why did he have nothing to say? This showed his utter disregard for the employees and their families,” she lamented.

“The PLP MP for Tall Pines used abusive language to talk about the employees and to denigrate Bahamians in need of hope. His words should be condemned by the prime minister,” she added.

A few of the questions among Mrs. Butler- Turner’s list are: “How many employees will the resort rehire? How many will be permanently laid off? When did the government know of the impending two month closure of the resort? If the renovations are part of a planned upgrade, why the need to issue redundancy letters to the majority of their employees?”

She further suggested that Minister Gibson has no clue on how the government intends to respond to this matter.

“For his part, the Minister of Labour and Social Development, Shane Gibson, seemed confused and allegedly caught off guard. His comments in this morning’s newspapers were mostly nonsensical babble, lacking in clarity about how the government intends to respond to the situation at-hand,” Mrs. Butler-Turner said.

The Long Island MP added that it appears the relationship between Sandals and the government has deteriorated.

The Long Island MP further charged that there seems to be little respect for the government, as she noted that the other Sandals properties are unionized and negotiable.

“Sandals has other unionized properties in the region. Why has a bargaining union not been recognized by the employers and the government,” she asked.

Meanwhile Mrs. Butler- Turner questions the government’s contentment in accepting the fact that approximately 600 employees “have been separated with no assurances given regarding reengagement of these workers”.

On Monday, Labour Minister Shane Gibson said the resort’s executives assured that the majority of the Sandals workers affected would be rehired.

The following day Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe echoed that assurance.